I don’t mean after eating beans. On NPR they had two guys who wrote a book on email. A caller said she offended when email started with her name followed by a colon, rather than a comma. She felt she was being “talked down to”. I almost always use a colon unless I am addressing my mother.
What are your thoughts?
Hmm. I sure don’t think so, but i guess it depends on the person. At first I thought you meant a colon like in your butt. Haha.
Said person was beyond anal-I’ve never heard of such nonsense.
A colon follows the salutation (often reduced to a name in direct address) in any business correspondence. A comma is used in the same position in personal correspondence. I have seen nothing that indicates, if a salutation is used at all in e-mail, there should be any change from this procedure.
I would love to know from what the NPR caller derived the sense of being talked down to. Although I have seen e-mails that make it appear their authors should be sent back for remedial kindergarten, to learn how to interact with others in a civil manner.
Try using a semi-colon. Then they’ll only be partly offended.
I was taught that a colon is used in the salutation of a business letter or formal letter, while a comma is used in the salutation of a personal letter or informal letter.
I don’t like colons in e-mail at all. They feel too stiff and too chilly, and they always make me paranoid that the person writing the e-mail regards me as a nuisance.
The business-letter usage is different, because “Dear Ms. Porpentine:” is a lot easier to take than just “Fretful:” I think the problem is the fact that e-mail tends to be more informal; first names just don’t mesh with colons, IMO, unless you’re calling someone out.
Assholes definitely tend to be rude, though there are some who are assholes for reasons other than rudeness.
DanBlather:
I agree with the caller.
It seems like it’s a pronouncement, rather than a greeting. “DanBlather: you will hear this”, not “DanBlather, howzitgoin man”.
DanBlather:
This thread will be moved forthwith to IMHO, as it is asking for opinions, rather than a factual answer.
Best regards,
fluiddruid
I don’t get the “talked down to part,” but a colon after a salutation definitely connates impersonality.
The only time I use one in business correspondence is after “To whom it may concern,” which I try to avoid anyway.
It reads a bit “stern,” somehow.
If read out loud, “John:” is flat, almost a bark, and “John,” is softened, with falling tone that isn’t there with a colon.
I personally tend to use a dash, if I have a salutation at all, which I don’t always. Come to think of it, I usually start with “Hi (first name) --” or “Hey (first name) --”
I agree with Polycarp. That’s SOP for business letters. So if it’s a business related e-mail it’s only professional. If it’s a friendly e-mail, it doesn’t come off as too friendly. But I’m not clear on which ones she’s talking about.
I agree with the posters who’ve said that a colon following a salutation seems a bit overly formal for a personal email. I’d have no problem with it in business usage, though I’d never heard of the rule that others posters are mentioning.
But there’s a great difference between overly formal, and being condescended to.
I listened to the show too, and the caller eventually came around to explaining it the way you did – the colon made her feel chastised, “talked to” in a negative way.
I didn’t hear the whole show. Did the authors talk about whether replies are supposed to go on top or bottom? Someone’s always bringing it up in on-line groups, and I’d like to be able to give a cite!.
Hell, I had to check my sent emails to see how I did it. I use a colon regardless of whether it is business or personal. If the spelling, capitalization and grammar are close to being accurate, I consider it a miracle. I also notice the competency and style of the prose. I hate obscure or cute acronyms and emoticons.
Colons or comma? Who gives a fuck?
I used to have a boss who actually used a comma most of the time except when he was in stressed out executive mode and then he’d use a colon. So I understand exactly what the caller means. There’s something about that colon that gets on my nerves. I’m sure it wouldn’t if he used it consistently because then it would just be his style. I avoid it in emails unless the email is laid out as a formal memo.
As said earlier, it depends if business or casual.
But what I really wanted to say is that this reminds me of Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters 
I don’t get the “talked down to” part, either. If she feels business formality uncomfortably stiff for e-mail that’s a different thing. And it’s something to get over, IMO. I will wildly speculate that she may be someone who so far has only experienced being in the subordinate role when someone else speaks from authority.
Polycarp is surely not the only one who has noticed that too many people seem to assume that e-mail requires not just relaxing but deliberately contravening all rules of proper redaction, style and courtesy.
All,
Thanks for the comments. It seems that many people, like me, see a colon as appropriate for business email. The fact that a significant group feel otherwise is enough to make me change my style (at least when I use just a first name).